PERSCOM Notes - military personnel management - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Here is a quick update on a couple of important items and some additional information you may find useful.

Current MOS Strengths

Overall, we are doing very well in the Regiment. Several of our MOSs have made great increases in strength during the last two years. The table below shows our current strengths.

As you can see, the strength of many of our MOSs is at or above 100 percent. This is great news. However, there are several we need to improve: diver (00B), prime-power-production specialist (52E), and topographic analyst (81T). Additionally, we have a very critical need for airborne-equipment operators (62E and 62J, especially privates to specialists). These are critical to our success as engineers. If you have a desire to work in these fields, contact us or your retention noncommissioned officer or discuss it with your chain of command. We can help you make the transition to these fields! Any 62E10 or 62J10 who wants to attend Airborne School and enter the exciting life of a paratrooper should call us; we can help get you a school slot to get you on your way!

Also note that 100 percent strength does not mean that every position will be filled. We currently are required to fill recruiters, drill sergeants, and Active Component/Reserve Component (AC/RC) over the number of authorized positions for those organizations. When we fill those positions, other areas in the Army must go short.

Promotions

Promotion is a topic near and dear to everyone, and there are no new secrets here. However, there are MOSs where we are short NCOs at the sergeant and staff-sergeant levels: These are called STAR MOSs. This means that soldiers in the MOSs (shown by grade on page 33) will be promoted to sergeant after they complete the Primary Leadership Development Course and have their points validated. Soldiers may be promoted conditionally to staff sergeant when their points are validated, but they must complete the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course within one year.

* Sergeant STAR MOSs: 00B, 51K, 51M, and 62H

* Staff sergeant STAR MOSs: 00B, 51M, and 52E

Leaders should look at this list closely. If you have soldiers in these MOSs who are eligible for promotion, any unnecessary delay in getting them to the board or school will delay their promotion. If they are not qualified for promotion, be specific in your counseling and give the soldiers concrete guidance on areas to improve for promotion. Advising them of this current situation could provide them the extra motivation to correct their deficiencies so they can get boarded, schooled, and promoted as soon as possible.

Assignment Priorities and Guidance

Man the force. Get divisions and armored cavalry regiments (ACRs) to 100 percent strength. This is the guidance we are following today as directed by the Chief of Staff of the Army. We currently have two categories for assignments: Fill Priority 1 and 2. Fill Priority 1 assignments are the divisions and ACRs, recruiters, drill sergeants, Army combat-training centers (National Training Center, Joint Readiness Training Center, and Combat Maneuver Training Center), AC/RC positions, and other joint-duty and high-priority assignments. The rest of the Army is Fill Priority 2. This means that we fill 100 percent of the positions in Fill Priority 1 units and fair share the remaining soldiers in Fill Priority 2 units.

Soldiers Needed!!!

We need soldiers for the following MOSs:

* 00B diver

* 52E prime-power-production specialist

* 81T topographic analyst

* 62E/J airborne-equipment operators

If you are interested, call us at commercial (703) 325-4824 or DSN 2214824.

Call Us

Feel free to contact us, or your assignment personnel, with any questions. Remember that we can't help if we don't know there is a problem. And we surely can't send you to the assignment of your choice if you don't tell us what it is before we make your next assignment.

Lieutenant Colonel Luce is the Branch Chief for Engineer Enlisted Assignments.

MOS  Authorized  Strength    MOS   Authorized  Strength
      Strength   (percent)          Strength   (percent)
12B   8,076         108      52E        187        87
12C     655         112      62E      1,339       109
12Z     264         101      62F        263       111
00B     133          63      62H         98        90
51B     872         100      62J        719        88
51H     420          99      62N        438       102
51K     112         125      81L        255       103
51M     243         124      81T        411        86
51R     129         124      81Z         25        88
51T     245         118      82D        110       105
51Z     134         107     Total    15,128       106

COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group